First Date
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Dylan Fic: Gwen sets Jack and Ianto up on their first date...


**Title: **First Date  
**Fandom: **Torchwood  
**Pairing: **Jack/Ianto, Jack/Gwen friendship, mentions of Gwen/Rhys  
**Rating: **FRT  
**Summary: **Gwen sets Jack and Ianto up on their first date...  
**Author's note: **This is AU. It's also a companion to 'Enjoying the Simple Things' - a prequel if you will. This is dedicated to everyone who read and reviewed that, I can't believe the response it got. Thank you all! Hope you enjoy.

x

The judge dismissed the court for a two hour break and every grateful soul in the room exhaled a sigh of relief. The case had been going on for almost two weeks and it was obvious they were nearing a verdict. But they were all tired and needed a break, albeit a short one.

"Hey," Gwen greeted, leaning over the wooden divide and grinning at their lawyer.

Ianto Jones was the police force's best prosecutor, getting a conviction almost every time. He was also very hot, Gwen noticed distractedly as he turned around and grinned at her.

"Looks like you'll have to wait a few hours for your verdict, Inspector Cooper," he greeted, moving around the divider and leading her from the court room.

Together they made their way up the rickety old stair case and into the canteen. "Shouldn't you be preparing your closing statement?" Gwen asked, accepting Styrofoam cup of coffee.

Ianto gave her look that clearly told her she had asked a stupid question. "What kind of lawyer do you take me for?" He patted his briefcase, offering her a knowing look before returning to his own coffee.

They sat in silence until Gwen asked, "You're gay, right?"

The lawyer, who'd just taken a drink, started in surprise at her bluntness and choked on his coffee. "Excuse me?" he gasped, rubbing his neck as he tried to soothe his burning throat.

Gwen had the decency to blush as she offered him an apologetic look. "Sorry," she whispered, handing him a napkin. "I didn't mean to make you choke. But, you are though, aren't you?" she pressed.

Frowning as he studied her, Ianto shrugged his shoulders. "Bi, technically," he admitted, feeling no shame about her knowing the truth about his sexuality. "Why?" he demanded.

"Will you let me set you up?" she asked, looking at him with wide green eyes.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders and sipped his drink. "How do I know he's not ugly?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Trust me, he isn't. If I wasn't with Rhys I'd go out with him… Well, if he didn't prefer men to women anyway."

Knowing what the female Inspector was like, Ianto sighed and nodded his consent. He knew that once Gwen Cooper got something in her head, it was easier (and less painful) to nod and smile, all the while hoping what you were agreeing to wasn't selling your soul.

x

Jack looked up in surprise when Gwen deposited a McDonalds take-out bag on the edge of his desk. He eyed the bag wearily before looking up at Gwen who was already attacking her own Big Mac.

"What's the occasion?" he asked curiously, opening the bag and discovering his favourite McChicken sandwich.

Gwen rolled her eyes and sat down at her own desk. "The one time I buy you dinner, you complain. Shut up and eat it."

Jack tapped two fingers to his temple in a mock-salute as he pulled the wrapper back and took a large bite from his sandwich, ignoring Gwen's mutter about men being pigs.

When she was sure that his mouth was suitably filled, Gwen advised him not to make any plans for the next night. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly, silently instructing her to continue. "You have a date," she added.

Painfully Jack swallowed his food and shook his head, "Gwen," he whined. "The last two times you've set me up, everything went completely wrong. I've already told you, I'm not doing the whole dating thing for a while."

"This won't go wrong," she assured him. "Because I've figured something out."

"And what would that be?" Jack demanded, shoving several fries into his mouth.

Gwen scrunched up her nose at his eating habits before continuing, "I've been setting up with the wrong sex."

Jack choked on a fry, making his face turn red as he tried to dislodge it from his throat. "Excuse me?" he eventually managed to gasp.

"You know, that was his reaction as well," Gwen muttered, slurping her drink through the straw. "Jack, you know you're Bi and so do I, stop looking so shocked that I figured it out."

Jack glared at her as he continued eating. "Stop looking at me like that," she instructed. "He's hot, you're hot, you're going to be wonderful together."

x

Jack to admit that Gwen had excellent taste in men; Ianto was definitely hot, even if he was a lawyer. He and Jack had worked on a couple of cases and they got on the few times they had come into contact, so that was a good sign.

The Welshwoman had even gone to the effort of reserving them a table at a restaurant, a few blocks away from the city centre.

To both their surprises, they discovered they had quite a bit in common. Both of them loved going to the cinema; Ianto wasn't as big a fan of theatre as Jack was, but he didn't mind going; their tastes in music were pretty similar as well.

Halfway through their main course, Jack's phone rang from its place in the Inspector's pocket.

"It's okay," Ianto assured him after the other man looked at the display and frowned deeply.

Jack smiled apologetically as he rose and moved a few feet away from the table, both to be polite and give himself a bit of privacy. Ianto watched as Jack answered the call and listened to whatever was being said on the opposite end of the line. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good because Jack's face fell immediately and his skin became two shades too pale.

Knowing they weren't going to be finishing their meal, Ianto grabbed the waitress's attention as she passed. Informing her that they had to leave, he handed her his credit card and requested that she hurry.

A few moments after Ianto signed the credit card receipt, Jack returned to the table, sliding the phone into his pocket. "I'm sorry," the Inspector apologised. "I have to go to the A&E."

"A&E?" Ianto repeated in surprise, he had thought the call was work related. "What's wrong?"

Jack seemed to hesitate for a second before he whispered, "My son's hurt his ankle. He's in x-ray right now."

Ianto was glad he managed to school his features to remain neutral as he listened to Jack speak. The other man had given him no indication that he had a son, but Ianto knew that now was not the time for explanations. Instead, he reached out and took Jack's car keys from him gently.

At his questioning look, Ianto explained, "You've been drinking more than me and you're emotional. I'll drive."

x

Ianto was left standing in the centre of the A&E waiting room as Jack spoke to the nurse on the Triage desk. She was apparently not telling him anything, if the Inspector's raised voice was anything to go by.

He looked up when he heard the squeak of wheels coming down the corridor. Sitting in a wheelchair pushed by a young doctor was a small child who couldn't have been anyone else's but Jack's. His brown hair flopped down over his forehead and was threatening to cover bright blue eyes which were looking around the waiting room expectedly.

Ianto headed over to the Triage desk and placed a hand on Jack's lower back, leaning over to inform the other man that his son was back from the doctor.

Jack turned around so quickly that Ianto's hand fell away but he didn't mind as he watched Jack rush forward and wrap his arms around the two year old.

"What happened?" Jack demanded, standing upright and rounding on the babysitter accompanying Dylan angrily. "You were supposed to take care of him!"

"Jack…" Ianto whispered, stepping forward and resting his hand against his back once more, not missing how natural the action felt. "Calm down… Everything's okay…"

Dylan was looking up at the stranger with wide-eyes, studying him intently before demanding, "Who's that?" and pointing up at Ianto.

Jack seemed to snap out of the angry daze he was in and his eyes softened when he turned back to his son. "Dyl, this is my friend Ianto. Ianto, meet Dylan," he introduced them with a smile Ianto knew was forced.

Ianto, at least, managed to summon up a more genuine smile than Jack had managed to muster. "How are you feeling?" he asked his date's son.

Dylan shrugged his shoulders in a way that Ianto could tell was definitely genetic. "I hurt my ankle," he stated.

Ianto knelt down in front of the wheelchair. "What happened?" he asked.

"We bounced on the trampoline," Dylan explained, his face lighting up happily. "But I fell."

The Welshman's widened his eyes and he grinned. "You've got a trampoline?" he asked excitedly. Dylan nodded his head and Ianto asked, "How big is it?"

Dylan held his arms out as wide as they would go before frowning and trying to stretch further. "Big," he finally answered when he realised he couldn't get his arms any wider.

Ianto smiled and stretched his own arms out, "This big?"

The young boy laughed and shook his head, "Bigger!"

Jack returned from where he had been talking to the doctor with a paper bag in his hand, presumably carrying Dylan's medicine. "You two look like you're having fun," he commented, standing next to Ianto and placing his hand on the other man's shoulder.

"I was just going to ask Dylan if he'd show me his trampoline when his ankle's feeling better," Ianto replied, standing upright and brushing the dirt from where he had been kneeling on the floor.

Dylan gasped happily and looked up at Jack with eager blue eyes, which Ianto knew he would never be able to say no to. "Can I daddy?"

Jack bit his lip and smiled a little; to Ianto he looked a little nervous and Ianto couldn't believe he had said something so _domestic _after their first date – well, half of their first date. After a second, Jack flashed him a brilliant grin and nodded his head, "When you're feeling better," he agreed.

The Inspector turned to Ianto, "I'm sorry for dragging you here," he apologised.

Ianto shook his head, waving off Jack's apologies while the other man scooped Dylan into his arms. "Don't worry about it," he replied. "Family comes first. Be careful driving home," he said seriously, knowing Jack was okay to drive now he was feeling less emotional, although he was still concerned at the amount of alcohol in Jack's system.

"Mr Harkness?" the babysitter asked quietly from beside them. "Would you like me to drive?" she asked timidly, avoiding looking at Jack; she had a feeling that she was going to be out of a job soon.

Jack grinned and handed her the keys, telling her where Ianto had parked. As she walked away from them, Jack caught Ianto's elbow and pulled him closer.

"You don't have to do this," Jack whispered, glancing down at Dylan. "You wouldn't be the first date who ran when they found out," he added sadly.

Ianto looked up and met Jack's blue eyes with his own. "I'm not going to run," he replied, his voice just as quiet. "I want to see the huge trampoline," he winked at Dylan, who chuckled happily.

"Plus, I figure that if I can win over this little guy," he nodded to Dylan, "it can't be that hard to do the same with his daddy."

His comment made Jack smile and he had leant closer before he realised he had even moved. When their faces were a few inches apart, Jack seemed to notice and he blushed and made to move away. Not giving him chance, Ianto slid his hand behind Jack's head and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss; not wanting to take things further when Dylan was watching them so closely.

They pulled back and smiled at each other, both of them thinking how absurd it was that they started their date in a gorgeous restaurant, only to end up kissing at the entrance to Cardiff A&E.

It was Dylan who broke their trance by shouting, "Me too!" at the top of his voice.

Ianto laughed and leant down, pressing his lips against Dylan's forehead as instructed. "That better?" he asked, looking into eyes that were so like Jack's.

Dylan nodded his head in satisfaction and curled further into Jack's arms, resting his head against his father's chest and closing his eyes.

"Are you sure we can't give you a lift home?" Jack asked when the babysitter pulled the car up to the entrance.

Ianto nodded his head, "I only live a few streets away," he reminded him, finding it amusing that Jack couldn't remember picking him up earlier that night. "You take care this guy," he instructed, nodding towards Dylan. "I'll call you later if you want."

Jack grinned and glanced down at Dylan. Seeing that his son was seemingly asleep, he reached out and pulled Ianto closer, kissing him deeper for a few seconds before pulling back. "I'd like that," he agreed.

Ianto ran his hand over Dylan's head before heading away from the A&E. He wasn't even at the kerb before he heard Dylan's loud voice ask Jack, "Is Yan-Toe going to be my mummy?"

The End


End file.
